Darkest Depths
by WhatifStoryTeller
Summary: Natsha has awakened END and with her new power, there came a curse. Anyone who she cares about in a mile radius will vanish from the earth in the blink of an eye. No one believed her at first, so they followed, but they were never heard from again. What will happen if someone, who she doesn't care about in the slightest, does find her? Fem!NatsuxCobra Fem!NatsuxZeref
1. Story of the Dragon

_There was once a girl in the middle of the forest. _

The clearing was disturbed by the recent fight, leaving behind dirt paths and a large hole. She was lying in the middle of this giant hole with rumble surrounding her body. Streaks of blood colored the dirt around her.

_Her enormous smile filled others with love whenever they seen her._

The girl seemed knocked out. Her eyes were closed, but there were still movement underneath the eyelids. Her hair, brushed to the side, was slashed from whatever beast fought her, leaving her hair unbalanced. Her wonderful smile was nowhere to be seen, instead only a bruised face that sweated in the sunlight.

Slowly, she started to awake. Her eyes blink wildly as she regained her surroundings. Her dazed mind steadily recounted the memories before gotten to this point. She could only remember that the others were nearby, in the mist of their own fights. But she was sure that was a while ago since she had no recollection of how much time has passed, so wouldn't they have beaten the others and found her by now?

There was another thing that she noticed while lying in the hole.

There were no sounds.

A forest should be roaring with wildlife, yet there were none to be heard.

Except a set of footsteps.

_Even the gloomiest of men were pleased whenever she was around, except not this time._

He stood at the side of the mount, looking down on here with eyes of reject and depression. Those emotions were always lining his facial features, but this time, it was stronger than before. As soon as she set her sights on him, a gasp escaped her mouth.

"Zeref!" The girl gasped as she suddenly shot from the ground. Her eyes darted behind him, looking for any signs of her friends or anyone.

"Natsha-san, how long has it been since we last meet?" His voice sent a chill up her spine. She raked through her memories for his last appearance, but he always came randomly and unanticipated. When she gave him no answer, Zeref continued on. "Do you remember what happened before this?" His finger made a circular motion, talking about the environment around them.

Natsha stared at him for a second and then spoke, timidly as if her answer will cause some sort of reaction. "A fight."

"Do you remember anything else? Such as creating the hole yourself?"

"No…?" She shook her head, "I just know…everyone else… They were fighting against these…beasts?"

His eyes gazed down upon her with sympathy, or in her eyes, she saw it as pity. "Your power has been unsealed, I'm afraid."

"Wait, that's a good thing. Right? It means I'm more powerful!"

Zeref held her eyes for a moment before taking in the forest beyond them. "Where do you think your foe is at the moment? Or the wildlife that roamed the forest? Where are they?"

Instead of answering herself, she climbed out of the hole and gazed around herself. Just like she thought, there was no living thing around. That's why were was no chirping or howling, because they all disappeared. "…You don't mean…you killed them?"

He shook his head. "They were dead long before I appeared, Natsha-san."

"Then HOW?!"

_Once she unsealed her powers, a curse was unleashed and killed all those she cared about in miles radius._

The animals.

Her friends.

Everything.

"Your powers were sealed away, but now that END has been unleashed, your powers returned, as well as your curse."

"B-But that can't be true!" Her pupils shrunk in size as she scanned the forest. Was her friends gone? Did they try to find her and got killed in the process? Did she cause her foe to vanish as well? Why didn't she remember? The only thing that moved was Zeref with his eyes that expressed a certain emotion. He has gone through the same experience as well; he knew exactly what she was feeling at the moment. Lonely. Within that one look, she knew that he was telling the truth.

Zeref nodded. "It's true. Everyone you care about…they will vanish from the earth as soon as you see them." He turned his head towards the south, where the snap of a twig echoed through the trees. "Unless if you want to see the Redhead gone, then let's leave this place. Quickly."

Is this how it will be? Always running away?

She left a small message in the dirt before backing into the forest after Zeref's lead. Hopefully Erza would notice the writing and listen, but that wasn't the Fairy Tail way. She knew they will follow soon. Wanting answers as well as her back.

_And so the girl followed after the Dark Lord, into the path of loneliness and hate._

_All love that filled her smiles vanished._

_And so, our story begins._

**I'm still on hiatus on my others stories, so I'm only working on this and Last Chance. This will only be a small side-story with the pairing of Fem!NatsuxCobra (unless if you guys got any other suggestions). **

**Test: (ﾉ °益°)ﾉ 彡 ┻━┻**


	2. Story of the Hunter

The scope was aimed on the gentle beast a few yards ahead of him. Quietly, he focused his shot as the deer turned her head. The boy licked his cracked lips, hoping that his shot would land unlike the others. His long tree-hue hair was bunched up into a tie and tucked under his hunting cap.

His finger caressed the trigger before it was pulled back into the trigger guard. The pellet entered the barrel of the gun and went out of the muzzle; the boy's arm shook from the backlash. The bullet shot through the air, not making a single sound until it landed within its target.

The sides of his lips raised into a pleasant smile.

He finally got his target.

Not only was he proud of his achievement, but the chirps of the birds surrounding him sounded as if they were cheering as well. There was a small hum that came from behind him. He quickly turned around, with his gun in hand, looking for his next target. There was only a small flash of pink before it disappeared in a blink of an eye.

While he was searching for this new target within his scope, there was a sudden thump on his right. He pulled back from his gun and looked in that direction, where his mighty dad stood. His own hunting gear was already packed up in the bag over his shoulder. "Found another deer?" His father commented, nodding to the new direction that his son was facing. "If so, we will be eating deer for the rest of the month."

The boy only nodded at his father's words. Even if this was a deer, there was no reason to shot more than what was needed, which at the moment, was only one deer. "I got him," the boy pointed to the fallen deer, "on my first try!"

This man looked into the other direction and nodded with a tight smile on his face. "Good job, Nuk," he patted his son's head. "Maybe next time you can catch some rabbits. I haven't had those in quite a while."

Nuk, the now named dark-green haired boy, nodded in delight of his father's kind words. "Oh! Can I skin it this time?"

"You may have gotten better at shooting, but let's hold off on skinning for another day."

With that, Nuk and his father carried the carcass back home.

As soon as the two were gone from the area, the pink haired beauty climbed out from the tree. She stretched her stiff arms before turning around the path. She headed back on the noiseless path. Birds that flew overhead suddenly disappeared. Every time that the noise gotten quieter, she bite the inside of her lip.

It has been seven months since that immense battle.

On that day, she was lead into the unknown by Zeref , who sent her to a solitude land where only hunters and merchants roamed. She didn't know the exact direction this land was, but she knew that she has never been here before. Everything was unfamiliar, the land, the climate, and the sights surrounding the land.

The evil mage lived in a castle with a wall surrounding his land, keeping forest-dwellers away. No living could pass his gate and live, all except for Natsha, who shared the same burden as him.

Even though the two were together with this curse, it was still lonely within the castle. The dark mage kept mostly to himself, unused to the presence of others. At first, all Natsha could ask about was her curse, his power, history and this land. Every question she asked soon came with the same boring answer, and so their discussions came to an end. She even tried to test his power, but he conquered her without blinking an eye.

How could one sustain a conversation with an immortal who knew all that was known?

How could Zeref survived so long with idle tasks?

And so, she ventured out of the vacant home and into the mothering lands around. This was where she first saw sight of the same green-haired boy.

Zeref knew of her trips into the forest, but never said a word. They would eat silently at the dining room table. The food was brought in by his magical minions who vanished with a snap of his finger. Illusion spell, Natsha guessed a while ago, one that Mavis mastered within her living years. He was a grand wizard, so the idea of him using other kinds of magic was possible.

Within the castle, she had her own separate wing, complete with aged furnishings. Though, once she occupied the space, Zeref soon sent his magical beings to merchant stands and brought other items for her.

The dark mage didn't have to worry about jewels. He had no worries; such a seldom life.

When Natsha entered through the double doors, she made sure that the sound traveled throughout the castle.

She hated the silence.

The dark mage didn't waste any time in using his magic to light the candles through the hallways. Even a visual of a bird poked his head out from the doorway to greet her. The beaks opened and a troubled sound came out, one that sounded of pans being slammed together.

Natsha jumped up the staircase and crashed into the library, where the man waited with a book opened on his lap. "Nice day, was it?"

She chose to not answer, since Zeref knew anyways. Instead, she glared at the book in his head and asked, "Don't you ever get tired of reading?"

"It softens my boredom, or would you like it if we were both bored?"

Every day, she asked him the same question. Every day, he answered with the same sentence. And in return, Natsha sighed. With Nuk returning to his house, there was no more entertainment out in the forest for her. All she was left with was Zeref and his endless amount of magic.

"Let's fight," Natsha suggested with her usual triumph, which was slowly starting to disappear as each day passed.

Same routine every single day, nothing ever changing.

"Shall we head into the courtyard or entryway this time?"

She chose courtyard.

Instead of searching the skies for any birds, she quickly headed to the land with no grass. This was where Natsha fought against Zeref, so the grass underfoot was killed off in their attacks.

Their battle was quickly over before it gotten intense, even though Zeref was going easy on her. Most of his spells were illusion to distract her with additional spells that would force her in other directions. That was just enough to make Natsha unable to stand anymore, yet she was unable to even put up a fight against him.

She kept up this routine for several more months, growing an odd fondness of watching the boy practice his shooting. It gave her somewhat of a purpose of waking up every day to see how much he farther developed his skills.

And the boy noticed.

Nuk's father, Ramos, noticed the decreasing amount of wildlife, which has never happened in this forest. His family has been using these grounds for food for generations, yet they were always doing it so steadily. A deer, several catches of fish, and a few rabbits or birds would feed them for a month, as well as their own vegetables.

The bird's chirps were starting to disappear. The deer kept their distances in smaller groups than before. So Ramos started filling their stomachs with fish instead. His dream of having rabbit stew was almost forgotten as he skinned the seventh fish that day.

Nuk, on the other hand, kept up his hunting. Instead of aiming for animals, he switched targets to flying discs. His aim was starting to get better as the days past, but the feeling of being watch never disappeared. He sighted Natsha several more times while aiming for the orange discs. When he tried to focus his scope on her again, the pinkness was nowhere to be seen, but he still heard her. Every time he landed his target, there was a small hum of delight behind him.

Forest Spirit.

In his mind, that was what he called her. The hair of cherry blossoms or salmons in the water, and the sweet hum of a hummingbird, that's what he thought whenever he went out hunting. His father may have noticed the decline of animals, but he didn't know of the Forest Spirit. It was something that Nuk kept to himself, a secret that he would tell no other. She was his angel guardian, he believed, she was always watching over him.

One day, he found her leaning on an oak tree. As soon as he saw her face, he lost his breath at the sight. Her hair, that was damaged badly that one day, grew out past her shoulders. The pieces of her hair were different lengths, several strands were in her face and one went over her left ear. Her clothing, which was brought by Zeref's minions, made Nuk's hunter clothes look like rags in comparison.

The only reason that Nuk was able to get so close to her without her detecting him was because she was out of it. That night her dreams were filled of images of her friends, so she had no lick of pleasant sleep. She confronted Zeref later on, arguing with him about the curse laid upon them.

That day wasn't her day at all.

The green haired, though, was certain that this was the second best day in his life, finally seeing the Forest Spirit with his own eyes.

"Forest Spirit!" His voice cracked with hidden excitement. He could barely contain his joy over this event.

Natsha froze up when his eyes laid down on her. "Don't come any closer!" Her voice came out cracking with each vowel. She jerked up to her feet, her hands were held out as if to keep him at bay.

He looked at her strangely and stopped in mid-tracks.

She searched around for his father, but luckily, the boy was alone. "Stay! Don't come any closer!" With that, she ran into the forest.

"Forest Spirit!" His voice followed after her, as well as footsteps. He was chasing after her. With his sights finally laid on her, he couldn't just let his guardian leave without staying anything. In his young mind, he thought that his skills were getting better because she was there, watching him.

Natsha darted past the trees until the trees were spread apart. When she glanced over her shoulder, she saw him gaining on her. A dirt path was ahead of her, the road that merchants traveled. And beyond that was the castle where Zeref would be waiting for her return. All she had to do was get past the gate, and then the boy would be locked out.

What if he waited for her to come out?

She would be showing him where she lived, and seeing how determined he was to get to her, she was certain he would come to the castle everyday just to see her.

There was nothing else she could do. She didn't know of the lands surrounding the place, only of Zeref's castle.

She tripped on a tree root.

Her heart skipped a beat.

His pace slowed down. "Are you alright?" His hand was on a tree as he tried to gain ground on her.

"Leave! Now!"

Nuk took a step closer.

His gun dropped to the ground, and that was the only thing left.

Natsha stared at the spot where a young boy stood only moments ago. Her nails dug into the dirt. She jerked upwards and raced into the castle. There were no candles that lit up or birds that cheered. There was only silence.

How she hated that.

There were keys that were hung in the back entrance that she pocketed into her jacket. Her feet thumped against the staircase where she headed into the west wing. The only light was the sunlight that rained down from the windows and the candlelight that came from under the library's doors.

Zeref laid down one of his books on curses and stood up from the cushioned seat. His chair was surrounded by stacks of his journals and books. Some were written by himself when he was younger and wanted nothing else but to be strong. The others were made out of collected information that he taken from other books, all placed in one based on the subjects.

Since someone joined his household, his reading material changed to all about curses and hexes. He created END to destroy him, but he never thought that Etherious Natsha Dragneel would backfire.

No matter how much he searched, he could never find a way to undo the curse.

He left his library and headed into her wing.

She was fierce and threw her things within a trunk.

That night, she headed to the one place that she knew she could stay without killing anyone. Through her motion sickness, she landed on the place that she hasn't seen for years.

Tenrou Island, the holy ground of the Fairy Tail guild.

In another part of the world, a man with spiked hair hit the table with his fist, roaring for another barrel so he could drink his memories away. He has never been the same since his beloved was gone.

In another part of the world, a man searched for his lost son, only finding his gun. He was all alone now, first his parents, then wife, and now his son was gone from his grasps.

These two people could only swear to themselves in a promise of finding whoever caused this and rid the land of murderers.

**This is one mopey story, and I'm sad to say that Cobra won't appear until like the last few chapters. BUT. Do you guys have any other ideas for the love interest? I've never wrote Cobra before...so...yeah... **

**Thank you everyone who followed/favorited and reviewed!**

**rinpup14: This was actually just something I thought of doing school...so...yeah... XD **

**firelass19: I only have enough ideas for a few events/chapters. This story will get updated a lot faster than my other, so this won't last for long. I will try to update as much as I can. Thanks! **

**HowlingWolf16: Heh, thank you and I hope you enjoy this small fic! This will probably be my...less romantic story of all of my stories XD**


	3. Story of the Drunk

She had forgotten how long it has been since she arrived to the deserted island. She stopped counting a while ago, even though Zeref warned her against it. His reasoning for such wasn't something that Natsha could remember at the moment. She was more fix on finding ways of conquering this curse Zeref wasn't any help to her at the moment.

Her hair gotten longer where it started to trouble her actions, so she ripped a piece of cloth and tied it back. The girl looked like a complete mess with stained clothing and dirt-colored arms, but she didn't care.

When the Fairy Tail members first came here for their S-class mission, Natsha didn't notice how there were no living thing in the forest. She was too wrapped up in the idea of becoming a S-class mage and defeating Erza. But now that she stayed on the island herself, she found out why Zeref haunted the place himself.

This was the one place where he knew he could never harm anyone. Every living thing was already dead, which only left her filled with loneliness. Zeref wasn't even around for her to fight and bug.

Dread filled her.

She missed the days where she smiled all day just from a corny joke that the Ice Bastard uttered.

Everything left like a drag.

Her fond memories were turned inside out in her mind, as she tried to stop herself from thinking of her friends. They would turn out just like Nuk if she were to ever see them again. They were probably at the guild partying like always, but this time without her. What were they doing right now? How would Gray go about it if he gotten this curse instead?

And so her heart began to harden as she let go of the last pieces of happiness that she had left.

Zeref's words were true, she finally found out.

Only those she cared about would die if she approached them. When she went towards the lake, the fish still swum around; none of them disappeared. This was her little food supply. At first, she only lived with the berries on the island and whatever food she taken with her to the island in the first place.

As long as she didn't care, they would live.

There was another thing that Zeref sent along with her food supplies,, a small note that warned her to count the days. That in 248 days, Fairy Tail will come her way for the S-class trials.

Where she made shelter, a place of rock rumble, there was s single wall that she started to count the passing days. Her days became such a routine that she never noticed the change of day. One day to her felt like a week, a week felt like a month and so on.

She knew that this time was coming up soon, but she was in no hurry of heading back to the mainland in the fishing boat that Zeref prepared for her.

Just the thought of riding in that thing again made her stomach winced.

First when the girl arrived, she tried searching for Mavis, the first guild master, in hopes of having someone there for her, but Mavis' hologram was currently partying with the guild members in Natsha's place.

That was what she thought was happening in the Fairy Tail guild, but it was a completely different case.

Ever since the disappearance of two of their guild members and only a small message as their club, the guild was a mess.

Mavis and Master sent most of their time in the office, searching over their papers and requests in hopes of hearing any news of their missing members. The two of them went over the papers daily, yet nothing came up about their Salamander and the other one.

The guild changed with its age. Some members stayed at home instead of heading to the guild everyday; Alzack and Bisca. There were five new members as well, replacing the old ones. Even with these additions, the guild wasn't the same.

A drunk was seated at the bar, roaring for another barrel to fill his stomach. With bags under his eyes, he roared at the youngest member for being too loud, and Mirajane tried to calm him down before a scene started once more.

Gajeel changed so much since that battle.

All he could do was get drunk and hope that he somehow managed to get home, which he felt that Lilly would make sure of.

Two others seat themselves at a wooden table, with a small blue cat joining them. The tallest girl ignored the commotion behind her as she tried to finish her dessert, while the blonde one couldn't help but stare in Gajeel's direction.

No one knew what to do to help him.

Ever since Levy disappeared, it has been harsh on him.

He stayed on the battle ground, searching for her scent, but it was suddenly gone. Natsha's scent stayed on a single path until it faded away, leaving them with no lead again.

When the news first came about, he started drinking while the others were still in a haze. By the time they gotten their heads working, he was beating Cana in how many barrels they could drink without passing out. The guild members certainly preferred a drunken Cana over a drunken Gajeel, who know only how to start fights and roar in his small fits.

The double doors slammed opened as Gray rode inside. He quickly greeted the two girls before heading to the request board. The waitress went past Gajeel and headed to the end of the counter. "Have you tried heading north yet?"

"Tried but no one is sending out requests." He slipped his last mission on the table, signed by the requester and completed. "I can try Baltimore again. There must be something new." In the corner of the request board was a small piece of paper that announced the S-class trials coming soon. Gray paid no attention to that and scanned the page for any other interesting request.

He was promoted to S-class a few years ago.

The trails were stale when there was no competition for first.

Once his childhood friend disappeared, Gray took it on himself to search for her. He would pick up a request and search for her in those areas, and he hasn't taken a break since then. Now that he was an S-class mage, he was free to head out on longer missions and farther distances.

At first it was him and Juvia who went out, but she gave up because of Gray never resting for a single moment. She will be piss when she learns that Gray came while she was still home.

The raven haired didn't even sit down. As soon as Mirajane signed this new request, he turned around and headed out of the doors.

Roire was staring at the doors with her lips ajar. Even though she joined almost a year ago, she was never able to talk to the S-mage. Everyone else in the guild was used to Gray's appearing and dashing off, but she didn't like that. They all would tell her that Gildarts did the same, but Roire never meet that man either.

They were guild members; shouldn't they at least act like it?

That really pissed her off sometimes, but she couldn't do anything to stop it. She, and the other new recruits, all knew of the stories. The Lost Salamander and McGarden. Even though years have passed, they still kept up their search for their dear friends.

Isn't it amazing to have friends like that?

Erza was the one who found the message, which was the only clue of Levy's and Natsha's trail.

It only told them that the two were still at alive at the time that the note was written. For all that they knew, the two of them could have died in some freak accident.

Carla, in her human form, trotted over to Roire and slapped her with the daily newspaper.

"What was that for?" The girl shouted.

"Your lips should be closed, lady."

With that, Carla turned around and headed back to her seat next to Wendy, who grew taller and curvy. She was in the age of dating, yet she was still innocent like always. And with Carla at her side, Wendy could never get any boys even if she wanted too.

Everyone was scared of Carla, but Roire only disliked the snotty cat.

Around her, Mavisa's head snapped up and glanced around. "Did something happen?" Her voice was like a snake, harsh, and it sent chills up Roire's body. She quickly shook her head; she rather Haku being here instead of Mavisa. At least with him around, Riore could have a small laugh. Mavisa had that look that one would except on an evil person, and her voice didn't help in that matter either. Riore was younger than Mavisa by a sizable gap, yet the two had the same amount of power when it came to fighting.

The other three new recruits, Cube, Annemarie and Omi, were currently shopping or at their houses.

Maybe Roire should leave as well? Before Mavisa could put a death spell on her and Gajeel could thrown another fit.

Before the girl could leave, Lucy already made her way to the exit. She waved goodbye to Erza and Happy, then went straight home. Her small apartment barely changed since her friend disappearance, but it still felt different without Natsha coming in without invitation.

The only thing that did change, however, was the wall-in closet. On one side, her items were stacked on top of each other and clothes were budging out. On the other side was a board with several thumb tats, newspaper clippings, rubber bands and pictures. Below that were several carefully-wrapped items that she kept close to her heart; items that she collected from her requests. A bow that Levy picked out for her doing their festival, the book she loaned the blonde, Natsha's maid costume, and the costumes form the Grand Magic Games.

"It's not much, but I can do something when everyone else is doing their share." That's what she said when she first started her own search, while Gray and the others were scouting themselves. She hasn't touched it in months.

Lucy knew that Erza was using secret sources, Jellal and other friends, to search as well.

They were all doing something.

"When I see those two, I'm gonna give them my Lucy Kick!" The blonde pounded her first on the door before shutting it. "It was probably Natsha's idea for them to hide," she once thought, "Levy-chan would never think about that. But…why would Natsha just randomly walk out on them?"

She sighed into the fold of her arm as she was lying down on her bed. The sun still shined through the curtains, right on her hand with the Fairy Tail mark. She remembered how much she wanted to have it on the other hand, the hand that Natsha grabbed when they first meet, but Lucy felt that was too cheesy.

Now, it felt just right.

Unlike Gray, she hasn't advanced to S-class mage. The only missions she went out on were those close to home, so if there were any new advancement, she knew instantly.

If it wasn't for that, then she would gladly join along on Gray's missions, even if they were past her level. All she would have to do then was hope that Juvia didn't hate her for it afterwards.

"Man… I need to stop being so gloomy," the blonde said to herself. "Maybe I should have brought Happy along...he's good for a nice laugh…AND I WOULDN'T HAVE TO TALK TO MYSELF!" She screamed the last part into her pillow. Happy moved into the Fairy Hills with Erza and Lisanna. It was the one place that didn't remind him so much of Natsha. Since Natsha was banned from the place only a year after she joined Fairy Tail.

Lucy threw the pillow off her bed. A small piece of paper and a tat fell down; her eyes gazed over it. S-Class Trails.

Maybe this time she should actually try.

**Dadadada! Yeah, this story will be over fast. There's not much here to make it into a long story, and as you can tell by now, I'm mostly just summarizing most of the events. **

**firelass19: I just know that Fem!NatshaxCobra is a secret pleasure pairing. I don't like it myself (since I barely remember Cobra's character), but their relationship is what I mainly needed for this fiction. **

**BeastlyTick59: I think I'll stick with Cobra. Natsha/Natsu grew up with Laxus, so there bound to be some feelings of friendship between the two. With Cobra, he just showed up one day in front of Natsu and just fought. So there's not many memories between the two. Like, for this story, I just need a pairing with nothing canon between each other.**


	4. Story of the Noobie

Erza, Mirajane, Cana and Laxus stood on the stage, overlooking the others. There were two S-class mages missing from the bunch, but no one knew when they would ever come back. In front of this lot was an aging man with only several pieces of hair left. His eyes scanned the room for all of the possible choices, but no one was remarkable this year, which was the same as last year. It took him a while to finalize his decision on this, but he could not suspend the trials once more.

He coughed into the microphone, getting the attention of the others in the room. "One of you shall stand on this stage."

Happy tried to climb onto it but he was quickly swatted away with Laxus' bolts.

"As in, you have passed the S-class trial to gain entrance. Only one shall pass this test of the seven of you. These are the names for the participants of this year's trials."

Everyone held their breaths for his next few words.

"Freed Justine. Juvia Lockser." This was Freed's second time participating, while it was Juvia's fourth time. Master started once more, "Lucy Heartfillia. Lisanna Strauss. Romeo Conbolt. Omi Blossi." He took a breath before announcing the last person. "Gajeel Redfox."

The guild was filled with silenced. No one was suspecting those people to be called. Not even the averages, Elfman, Evergreen, Wendy, Bickslow, Max, were called. Was Master changing it to give the trials a new spark? If so, then why Gajeel was called but not the others?

"There will be no changes to the list. And unlike last year, there shall be no partners. Those who were called, focus on the equipment that you bring, that may shall your very own life. Keep in mind, you must carry this throughout the challenge. That is all." He left the stage before the others should start complaining about his choices. He knew that Macao would not be pleased to hear that his son was participating, but Master thought long and hard about this; he felt like it was finally time for the boy to join in on the guild's activities, especially since Romeo started picking up requests for him, Wendy and Cube to do.

Gajeel, who was half way to dreamland, jerked his head upwards. "What was that, Old Man? Tryin' to talk shit? Huh?"

Laxus didn't even hestitatte when he summoned a lighting spell right at the metal user.

The others were excited about the news, having their own named called. Juvia and Lucy were in joy. If they became S-class mages, then nothing can stop them from going out into other lands, with Gray, hopefully, joining them.

"What do you think he meant when he said think about your items?" Max whispered into Mira's ear, as she exited the stage and headed to the bar. The sweet woman only shook her head with her finger on her lips. "I vowed not to say a thing~!" But, she took a second and then winked. "I heard…that there may be three trials."

Riore slammed her fist into the table, almost breaking it by her bare strength. "Why Omi?! Haven't I been working hard?!"

Omi just glanced over his shoulder at her and chuckled. "I wouldn't call cowing down on pies as working, lil twat." His eyes, like his lips, were smiling at her, as if daring her to come and attack him.

The other new recruit only sighed into his hands and looked at his other two group members. "Man…I really thought I had this one in the bag… Well, I'm still happy that you and Romeo got in."

"I wouldn't have without your help, idiot." Omi was such a master when it came to nicknames. Though he hasn't thought of a cunning one to call Erza and Cana, because that was a death sentence. "We are probably going camping. I mean, why else would he ask us to pack carefully? Though, that's completely unfair for those of us who doesn't practice Reequip magic." They all knew that he was referring to Lucy.

"Oi, Erza!" He shot up from his chair and headed in the direction of Erza. "Can you show me how you do that awesome Reequip magic?"

Her eyes did not look pleased at that favor. "I can't teach you since that would be unfair. If you want to be taught, then why don't you ask Lucy or learn by yourself?"

"That's unfair?! It's unfair in the first place!"

"I did not make the rules; I'm only following Master's orders."

"And you do know I'm gonna be up against Lucy in the trials."

"You can learn by books, or…try asking Bisca. I'm sure she will for the right price."

Wasn't there a rumor spreading around the guild that Alzack would shot anyone who gets close with his wife? Omi was pretty sure there was. Before he could say anything, Erza already moved on to join Mira at the bar.

"Omi, I can teach you…" Lucy's voice came from behind him.

He jerked around and stared at her. The first thought that came to his mind was that Lucy had heard the whole thing. He couldn't help but curse at himself for doing such. His head shook in such intense speeds that Lucy was sure he had a concussion.

In another part of the country, a man stood in front of the office person. His eyes scanned the walls behind the person, looking for any lick of information. His thoughts were disturbed when the other man cleared his throat, handing back papers.

The papers were filled with all of the information about him, such as his name, Cobra, his age, height and other things. These were filled out when he first came to this place, so the information was outdated.

It has been so long, he thought to himself, he couldn't help but wonder of what happened on the outside.

During his imprisonment, he was offered once to go outside in order to use his powers to stop a evil force from destroying the town; this act knocked a few years off his time. That only lasted for several hours until he was done and headed back into the prison cells.

"Is this all?" He muttered under his soured breath.

The office worker nodded, "You are free to go." Even though he wore a small sad smile at the ex-prisoner, his thoughts were different. _'I'll probably be seeing him in a week.'_

Cobra hummed to himself, nodding. "I'm not planning on getting killed in a week, though." With that, he turned around and left without saying another word. The man stared at the closed doors, wondering what the hell the lad meant.

The breeze parted his spiky hair, but he did not mind. The outdoors had a scent that he longed for. Suddenly, his ears were filled of noises. Voices. Thoughts. They were all the same to him.

Though he was free now, there were some things that he needed to settled, now that his crimes were cleared; a beloved person to find and two unpaid debts to settle. He has been waiting for the day of his freedom, so his body was harshly trained while he was stuck in that cell without anyone to listen to or magic to cast.

He cracked his knuckles. He could feel his contained magic that was now unleashing itself.

There was only one location he had in mind. A guild that rose to fame and dropped into slumps within the drop of a nickel. Fairy Tail Guild.

There are numerous people in this world that counted each and every day, whether it was for their release date or the day of the S-Class trials, but there are still some who lost count so long ago. A girl that went by the name of Natsha, even though she hasn't heard a person speaking of her name in a long time.

To her, every single day was normal, in the same routine on this small island. Even the loneliest person in the world didn't even visit her once she left. All Zeref would do was send her small shipments and notes.

This island was the whole world. The animals, which were small in number to begin with, started to repopulate slowly once Natsha figured out her curse restrictions. She found the old ruins of the buildings that were first built there. With that, she enforced it with wood until she made a makeshift shelter. Using the supplies that Zeref's minions sent her, she had most everything that she needed.

She had no clue of the events that were heading her way. All that she knew was that the fish she had from last week was going to spoil if she didn't eat it now.

**DadadadadaDA! Yup, that's the chapter. I think I got the events lined up perfectly now, I just have to write it all out. Also, picking how should be in the trials was a pain in the ass. I just knew I wanted three of them (Lucy, Juvia and Gajeel) in plus a rookie (Omi) plus someone else from the last canon S-Class Trials (Freed). **

**firelass19: This will probably be the happiest one that you will get. The rest will probably just be...well just there. Little humor.**


	5. Story of the S-Class Mage

Kinana stood on the deck that overlooked the front of the guild. From this high up she was able to see past the buildings of the old city and into the forest beyond. She stood out there in the howling winds. The girl didn't know why, but her gut told her something was coming.

"Kinana-san~!" Mirajane's voice echoed through the door, making Kinana jolted towards it.

She pulled it open and called down the hallway, "Yes?"

"We are closing now~! Let's head out~!"

The purple haired nodded, even though Mirajane couldn't see it, and headed down. Her eyes scanned the cracks in the floor, remembering the first time she entered this guild. How long ago was that? Almost a decade. In that time period she had no memories of anything and the only people she knew of were Mirajane, Master, Macao and Wakaba until she met the other guild members who made her smile.

Just thinking about it made her think of all of the members they lost on the way. The regulars who came to the guild everyday suddenly stop showing up, Mickey, Niggy, Mikuni, and Krvo. Even though there has been new people coming to fill those empty seats, they will never be the perfect replacements. Not even for Levy and Natsha.

Kinana was only an onlooker in the guild, she only had a few close friends; Lisanna, Mirajane, Laki, Annemarie, and Max. She didn't know much about Levy and Natsha, but she did know their disappearance caused a lot of damage to this close-knitted family.

Now her gut rumbled from thinking of that. The silent nights were always the worst ones for her, where there was nothing there to distract her mind from wandering off.

The floorboard under her feet creaked, but that wasn't the only noise around. Below her, she could hear Mirajane's voice and someone else's, but whose? Everyone should have left by now, and she was sure it wasn't Cube who always had too much time on his hands. No, it was a deeper voice. It was more sinister, but familiar.

'May I hear your voice?'

Her whole body suddenly shuddered as those words echoed through her mind. Those were the only words she could remember, spoken in a kind voice by a man. The voice downstairs was not kind at all, it was harsh and demanding. Yet they were the same voice.

She felt her heart skip a beat and suddenly, she became indecisive on rather she should stay here and listen or confront the memory man.

By the time that her mind was able to process what was happening, she heard the door slam and Mirajane gulping. Without any thinking, her feet ran down the staircase.

The white haired girl stood in the middle of the room, facing the door. The broom that she was using was on the ground, as if she dropped it.

"W-What happened?!" were the only words that Kinana managed to make.

"He wanted…Erza and Natsha…"

"Wanted?"

"To settle a long forgotten disagreement…"

Kinana dashed past Mirajane towards the doors, but as soon as she did so, she heard a trump. Her head jerked around and saw that Mirajane was now on the ground with her eyes closed.

Was she…dead?

She went to her side, quickly, and felt for her pulse. It was still there, she sighed in relief; Mirajane was only unconscious at the moment. Whatever that man did to her, Kinana had no clue. All she knew was that she had to call healers. If anything happened to her close friend-teacher, then she could regret it for the rest of her life.

That night, the guild was swarmed with healers from Kinana's abrupt phone call. Only Elfman and Lisanna came to see what was happening; they were starting to worry when Mira didn't show up at her apartment, so Lisanna called her brother and the two came.

The others were occupied with the arrangements for tomorrow. Some of them were already gone from their homes, preparing for the trials.

That night, Kinana headed back to her apartment, disappointed and displeased with the events of that day. Lisanna and Elfman stayed at the hospital over tonight, waiting for the test results. There was only one guild member out on the streets that night, with a pile of sealed notes, each marked with a name.

Erza.

She was out on the town tonight, heading towards the Freed's home. Her load gotten lighter as the night went on, as she placed each note inside of the member's houses for the next morning. None of them woke up when she entered, which was easy for her. Inside of each note was a small message that led them to their trail.

It was a race.

They were instructed to get to Tarou Island within two days. Those who failed would be written out of the trials without another chance at the other two trials. This was why equipment for this mission was important, since it played out in the long run.

Once she was getting to the last person, Omi, she started to feel a presence behind her. "Whoever you are," she stood in the middle of the road, her back facing whatever was waiting in the shadows, "Come out and fight."

There was a hum that slowly faded away, and then the presence was gone.

There was only one word that Erza could think at the moment, creepy. She unequipped her sword and moved on, ready to get back to the ship as soon as possible.

Omi's house, a small wood cabin on the outskirts of town, stood soundly with a small firelight in the window. She peeked inside, scanning the inside of any movement. The shadows were moving against the wall, showing a boy waving his arms around to perform a spell. She knew those movements from anywhere. He was practicing reequip magic.

The girl never figured out if he asked Lucy/Bisca for help, but from the looks of it, he was starting to make some progress. Now she regretted turning him around in the first place, since it's been a while since she trained anyone. The last person she helped had ran away from home and there has been no developments on this case for the past five years.

It would be tedious if she was caught, so she placed a piece of chopped wood in front of the door and placed the letter on top. That way he couldn't miss it, unless if he was too eager and ran out of his house without glancing at what was blocking his way.

Now, there was only a single destination left for her on this lonely night.

There was a ship stationed at the shore with lights shining from the windows. There were three shadow figures standing on deck, muttering something to each other. As Erza gotten closer, she could make out the words and started piecing it together.

Mirajane wasn't coming.

"What happened?!" She caused two of the boarded to jump in surprise from her voice. She grabbed onto the netting that hanged on the side of the ship and pulled her self up. In front of her, Gray stood with his arms folded. His mission was quickly ended in order to get here in time for the S-Class Trials.

As well as Gildarts; who was now in the hull of the ship; probably napping with his daughter with empty cups of boozes.

Laxus and Master were the other two standing there. The younger one only nodded in greeting before explaining the events he was told by Elfman on the phone. "They were looking for you."

"They can look all that they want, but they won't find me hiding." At this point, she remembered the presence she felt before. Was that the stranger who was looking for her? If so, why didn't he confront her then and there? Her hands formed into fists at her side. "Master, will you allow me to stay and deal with this enemy?"

"I truly want to say yes, but at the moment, we are already down one member and losing another will only make it harder. Whoever is searching for you will eventually come to you, to us. We have no information on this stranger other than using poison to attack others, or in Mirajane's case, placing them in a sleep. We do not know his motivations other than finding you for whatever reason. For all that we know, this is a trap with your name written all over it." He took a breath and glanced towards the moon. "We shall leave at once. The sun will be rising any moment now and we don't need to leave a trail."

Erza, somewhat against his decision, only nodded. She went to head to the front of the ship, but Gray stepped into her path. She stared at him, wondering what he was planning, but the boy only placed his hand on her shoulder and walked with her.

How long has it been just those two?

After the disappearance, Gray has been searching nonstop and Team Natsu was no more. Unlike Gray, Erza aimed for quantity of requests, near their city, over quality; Gray went for those missions away from the guild and needed deadlier enemies to face while Erza took the riskless jobs. The two has never gone on a quest together in quite some time, unlike her and Lucy, who did missions whenever her rent called for it.

"After this is over, you owe me," she muttered, glaring her good eye into his.

"Owe you? How?" He didn't even notice.

"You, me, Lucy, Happy and whoever else wants to tag along. On a mission. Just like old time sake."

His friendliest expression disappeared, replaced with reserved one. His eyes turned and stared elsewhere. "As long as no one slows me down."

"Then maybe we should allow Jet to join along. I'm sure that he will be more of your speed."

"I would be better paired with Elfman than him."

The ship, with an old friend of Master's, left the shore and headed into the sea.

And there was an uninvited member along for the ride.

The next day, the applications opened their note, revealing a simple sentence and a map that guided them onto their trials.

_Get to Taruo Island in two days in any means possible._

The clock started clicking down.

**Who do you guys believe will make it in time?**

**HowlingWolf16: Heh, let's just say that there's a lot of going on once they start.  
**

**firelass19: Just expect lots of surprise and confusion among our characters.  
**


	6. Story of the Traveler

Gray rolled over to his side, his eyes still opened and his mind still wandering. Four years ago, on this very day, was when he gotten his title of S-class mage. Four years ago, on this very day, was when his childhood friends disappeared.

Her face appeared in front of his, catching him off guard. "Are you still thinking about that?" Her voice, blunt yet crisp, echoed throughout the room. She wasn't like the other two girls; not minding the presence of a boy sleeping together in the same room. Erza hasn't changed much either, unlike him. She grew taller than before and changed her wardrobe into darker colors. Her hair, slashed in a fight against another compatible swordswoman, was starting to regain her original length. It was usually kept in a tie, but now that they were resting for the night, she had it down.

"It is hard not to think about it. If she would have been there, then I wouldn't have won that year. Plus…" He stopped himself from finishing.

"Plus…Plus what?"

He turned his body around, facing the wall instead of her.

"Gray. What do you know?"

"I…learned something in Baltimore." He bit his bottom lip, not wanting to utter the rest of it. He could still feel Erza glaring holes through his back, so he finally fess up. "An old hag came up to me. Cart, orb, spirits, all of that. She say that I was searching for something, someone, and that she wanted to help me."

"What did she say? Did she find anything?"

"We went back to her cart and I handed her Natsha's vest. The orb started doing crazy stuff, going from green to purple, then it just…it just turned black."

"Black… You don't mean…."

"The hag said that Natsha's gone from this world."

"That's a lie!"

"She said the same thing about Levy, but this time the orb only flashed to black, there was no green or purple."

"But we have been searching for four years! Don't say that our searches have been fruitless from the start!"

He nodded, lifting the cover closer to his head. There was another moment of silence before he said another thing. "I think… I'm going give it a break… Juvia's been waiting, and I have been avoiding her."

"Just because of that hag? Now we have more of a reason for find Natsha and Levy, to prove her wrong!" She pounded the floor, glaring at Gray for ever saying that in the first place, but her glare started to soften as she realize something. It was Gray who has been fighting full force since the beginning; no one else. Her shoulders slumped and she leaned back. She has been letting Gray and the others doing the work while she stayed back and ate cake with Lucy. She was a part of Team Natsha too, yet Gray was the only one doing his part and theirs, never resting once to enjoy his own life. "I'm sorry, Gray…"

Neither one of them say another word that night.

In the morning, the participles gotten a hold of their letter and each one of them were already heading out with their bags packed. Their first trial: Get to the island.

When Freed first heard of it, he took his time, thinking about all of the options he had before choosing one. It took him roughly half a day to get to an out skirting village, then using his funds, he rented a boat for two weeks to head out.

Juvia followed his trail to the city, but used a different means of heading out into the ocean. She brought a surfboard , which she planned on using for breaks, and used her water magic to swim out.

Lucy would have done the same, but without one of her keys, she had to convince a certain guild to lend her a passage by using her lady charms. Good thing she had a close connection with Hibiki and Eve, or else she would have had to use her rent this month to rent a boat.

Lisanna was one of the last people to leave the island, since she was worrying over her sister's condition. Somewhat like Juvia's plan, she used a bird soul to fly and reequip magic for her other supplies. Her path to the island was distorted since she had to take breaks at nearby islands in order to save her mana.

Strangely, Romeo was in the lead. It was his first time in the trials and so he was awake all night when he heard Erza sneaking in and crashing into their bathtub. When he gotten the note, he quickly followed her out and boarded their ship. He was now riding in the lower deck with all of the cargo, yet no one but Gildarts noticed.

Omi didn't get his letter until the afternoon, since he was up all night and slept all day. With the help of Cube and Wendy, he was able to get a free ride to the outskirts by Carla. The cat was against it, but it did help him regain the time lost while he was sleeping. He would have liked having her roam over the ocean for him, but her wings finally gave out and he had to use what little of the money he had to hire a fisher to sail him to the island. He had a feeling that he may get in trouble for this, showing an outsider the island, but the rule did say to use whatever means possible.

Everyone in the guild helped Gajeel, who was against going in the first place. The guys chained him in a cart and pushed him down the trail, to the closest out skirting town. They only did this to get the man out of their hairs, at least for a little while. And so, Gajeel rode with motion sickness until he ran over several citizens and into a cliff on the beach. He vowed to kill Alzack, Max, Jet, Droy, Reedus, Macao, and the others that he could not possibly name at the moment. He used the cart and flexed the iron into a small boat, hoping that this would help him somewhat to the island. If not, he didn't care, as long as he was able to get to an island.

All of them were on their way to a single place, and it just so happened that it was Romeo who gotten through first.

When they made it to the island, Gildarts finally opened the hatch and the boy came tumbling out, landing in front of Laxus.

"So a weasel followed us," he muttered.

"Hey, I passed. 'Any means possible' and I did get here."

"True," Master came up and nodded, "Though, I was sure that our escape was perfect, guess we should have accounted for punks like you." He said it in a teasing tone unlike his grandson.

Romeo snickered, "I was pretty sure I would have been caught."

"You were," Gildarts stated, "Next time, use the back hatch instead of the front. And use clone or at least take a shower, it was hard to sleep with that smell."

He took the information gracefully and nodded, "Right!"

"I'm pretty sure that smell came from you," Cana commented.

"Really?" He sniffed himself and nodded, "Maybe so…"

**DUHAHAHA. Well, the trials are on the run. Natsha and Cobra will make an appearance soon after all of them are there. **

**firelass19: Heh, yeah. Now I just need to get Cobra there.  
**


	7. Story of the Prisoner

Romeo slapped Omi's back as he lifted himself on land from an old rotten ship. The old man in charge of the ship gotten off gracefully and joined Master, who came when news of the ship gotten around. Quickly, Omi saw the error of his ways and hoped that Master would help him in the trails. But, when he saw the two shake hands and joke around, he realize that this old man, who acted like an idiot the whole time, was actually someone that Master knew.

Was this the reason that the Captain made sure that Omi gotten here at the very last moment? The whole time on the trip, the young boy had a feeling that the Captain was doing everything in his power to make sure that it took the longest.

Well, it was a good thing that Omi didn't pay the whole traveling fee, because this old man was certainly not getting a reward. Especially when it was on purpose.

The red-haired boy pocketed his hands and sent a glare at Romeo and the two old men. "How the hell did you get here before me?" He said, while heading towards the makeshift camp that the others were already settling down in.

"Well…everyone gotten here before you," Romeo shrugged, running his hand in the back of his hair. " I was kinda awake when they sent out the letters…and I kinda… hid onto the ship."

"How the fuck was you able to do that? There were five S-ranked and Old Gramps on there, and no one saw you?"

He smirked at this comment. "I'm just that sneaky."

Gildarts sprayed his booze into the face of Lisanna, who only stayed still for a moment before bursting out laughing, while Gildarts went from laughing at Romeo's remark to slaving over Lisanna, making sure that she was all dried and nothing else was wrong.

"Looks like you were caught, Bozo."

"Hey, at least I have gotten here on time."

"So did I… even if it was a few minutes close to being late."

The two joined the others at the camp fire. Omi seated himself across the fire pit from Lucy, between Cana and Romeo. These were the only two in the group that could handled his rash nature without much irritation. Gildarts, now sure that Lisanna wasn't bothered by that, seated himself down next to his daughter and forgot about his booze for now.

Lisanna seemed indifferent from usual, by then again, her sister was in the hospital and she could not get any information concerning her condition until the trials were over. Freed kept to her side and made sure that she was content by bringing over what edibles and drinks they were served. Laxus stayed at the table, beyond the campfire, and kept glancing at pile of small sacks that looked like it would collapse any moment. This was unusual of the green-haired keeping distance away from Laxus, but no one commented.

Gray and Erza surrounded Lucy, handing her a smoked sausage and relaxing around the fire. To the others, this reminded them of a time not so long ago; when these three and she were going out on missions that saved their town over and over again. Juvia leaned against Gray, savoring his scent, missing the touch of his skin, while Gray couldn't help by blush whenever someone looked his way.

Though these were the trials, they couldn't help but feel relax before the fire. Everyone was together, moments that were long forgotten about in the chaos of the guild.

Gajeel was the only one who shined away from such joys. He was at the other table, close to where the bottles of sake were stored, and watched the friends from behind. For once, he wasn't complaining, but at the same time, he didn't seem to be happy anyways. He must be thinking of something, or someone. Laxus stared at him, wondering what was running through the drunk's head, before he heard footsteps.

Master approached the group, finally saying farewell to his friend, Bob, who sailed that rotten ship. That was the only man that Makarov could trust with the location of this island, since he knew one of these members would have hired someone to travel.

"The first part of the trials was passed with no losers. The second part of the trials begins in the morning, until then, you all may prepare, or party. After this night, you will have no time to rest or drink sake," he said while glancing at Gajeel. "You were warned about packing the right equipment, and I hope that you all took that information carefully. Though I have trust that none of you try to sabotage your guild members, we will be watching throughout the night of any mishaps. I will announce the other information tomorrow morning." He nodded, showing that he was done talking, and the others started chattering with each other.

Makarov headed over to his grandson and glanced through their own equipment. "Is everyone accounted for?"

"Again, yes." Before they left, Makarov made sure that all of the S-rank counted the supplies, over and over again. The number was still the same as it has always been.

None of the members knew what was in store for them in the morning, but since none of the S-ranks would say a word on the subject, they were left with their own ideas. Freed was the only one who had a faintest idea of what was going to be one of the trials. The sacks were there for a reason. There were seven sacks in total. Enough for each of the participants to have one each. But that would give everyone a passing grade if it was that simple.

Was it a contest to see who could get the most sacks? Did they have to steal from the others to achieve a certain number of them? Was there an item inside, a key that would send them on different paths? Was it a contest on seeing who could keep their sack for the longest?

It was only when Lisanna brought him a drink that he finally settled for a moment, figuring that they would find out in the morning.

Elsewhere, a man whisked the waters of the ocean with a wooden shaft. The moonlight shined against the surface, making the ocean look like a dream. The man didn't care much for the appearance, but he missed the times like these.

Prison was like hell.

Now that he had freedom, he didn't know what to do with it. The others of his guild were elsewhere, probably with Crime Sorciere unless if there was a shift. After his guild left the prison, they were offered positions in that independent guild, but people sought Cobra from all over. No one would leave him alone, until he began bashing all of those who tried coming close. That was indeed a bad call that sent him back into that cold cell while Brain and Angel had their freedom.

There were many times that he wished that they came and whisked him out of that silent life, but he knew better.

Crime Sorciere was a guild of making amends; going against the government was against their beliefs.

If they tried to save a friend, all of them would be recaptured and sent to the cells with him. Though he grew close to the leaders, he knew better, as did they.

None of them knew that he gotten out of prison, and he didn't know if he wanted to come back. Those were his friends, indeed, but he had other goals before he could allow himself to go back.

Erza.

Natsha.

The two women who caused him to change his mindset were the same two women that defeated him in harsh battles.

He glanced down at the floor of this timid boat, at the sheet that was left behind. _Get to Tenruo Island in two days in any means possible. _

On the other side was a map that pinpointed the position of this island.

He had all that he needed to accomplish his goals. The only thing that mattered was if he could defeat these beasts. He has been training in prison for this day, but there has been so much time since he saw their power. He advanced, but that meant that the other two advanced as well.

It was too late to doubt.

It was too late to run or turn around.

Tenruo Island was in sight.

He could only go forward.

For Cubellios, he thought.

**Man, it's been a while since I updated. I got plans for the next chapter, but for the last trial…I'm still thinking about (kinda combined my idea for the third trial into the second trial). Thanks for all of the reviews and follows and favorites by the way!**

**firelass19: I just kinda now noticed that Romeo is now the age for girlfriends... shot, I should have added more in about him, Wendy and Cube being a team. Yup, pretty much a mini Natus, except he has more knowledge and a lesser fire magic than Natsu. Well, who said there will be a character death, huh? XD So many people can die in this story...but which ones?**

**kimi: Man, I just read that a couple weeks ago, and I'm still trying to figure how to factor that into this story...but at the same time... I don't want to spoil others. So, I'm keeping the rules the same (Natsu END is causing her to kill all that she cares for. Zeref curse causes everyone who is less powerful than him to die). Is it bad that I actually had a thing of pairing these two together? But...I can't now... **


	8. Story of the Loner

Zeref leaned on his arm, gazing out the colored window into his yard. Certainly she would have been back by now, since he sent her letter after letter, telling her of the S-Class Trials that was soon coming her way.

He knew well of how she felt. She didn't want to endanger her old friends. She didn't want to endanger anyone. That's why she headed to that sacred island, but she knew well of Fairy Tail's yearly S-Class trials, so why wasn't she here?

The black haired tapped his arm chair.

There was too much silence in his household; giving him way too much time to think. This was the first time in ages that he was actually interested in the outside world, but only for a small portion that was somewhat related to his business.

He sighed into his hand. He was able to go decades without this feeling of boredom, but it finally came to him. So many years has passed since he felt this emptiness.

One of his illusion servants came to the door, with a plate and a teacup. Though he was bored, he wasn't crazy enough to start talking to one of his creations.

In front of him were dozen of books. All of this research books that he collected throughout the years from failed worshippers. Throughout these books, he only mentioned END a few times and never gave much information that sorted the process that he went through in order to recreate such a being.

There was only one book that he knew held the answers he was seeking. A book that Natsha fought with her life twice now, and each time that she won those battles, the book was lost again, in the hands of the demon spawns. The last time she fought, it was when the book opened in her hands and the true powers of END were released onto her being. That was the same day that he traveled to their battlefield and led her into this new, solitary life.

Maybe he should have gone after the foolish demon squad and taken back the book, but his mind was focused on the girl escaping the crutches of her friends that allowed them to escape with the sacred book.

Zeref left his study with the teacup still steaming on his table. He grabbed his robe off of the dusty shelves and headed to the back door. As soon as he opened the old oaken door, he heard their voices even louder than before. From his tower, their voices were only a background noise, but now that he was outside, he could hear each individual's voice.

"MY SON! HE HAS TAKEN MY SON!"

"MY DAUGHTER SAW THIS DEVIL AND MISCARRIED!"

"PEOPLE HAVE COME HERE AND NEVER RETURNED! HE HAS KILLED THEM ALL! TAKEN THEIR BONES AND BURIED THEM IN HIS YARD! AND THE CHILDERN WERE DUMPED INTO THE OCEAN FOR THE FISHES TO GET THEM!"

"HE HAS FORSAKEN THE LAND! THE DROUGHT CAUSED ALL OF OUR FOOD SUPPLY TO VANISH!"

"A DEMON, I TELL YOU!"

"MY SON WAS IN THE FOREST! I CAME LOOKING FOR HIM AND CAME TO THE OUTSKIRTS OF CASTLE! NUK'S GUN WAS THERE, BUT NOTHING ELSE!"

"COME OUT HERE, DEMON!"

"HE KILLED THE OLD OWNER OF THIS HOME AND KILLED THOSE WOMEN LAST YEAR! I HEARD THAT THEY WERE CALLED TO THIS PLACE, AND THEIR BODIES WERE DUMPED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TOWN THE NEXT MORNING!"

"GIVE ME BACK MY SON!"

"YOU CURSED MY FAMILY!"

"OUR CROPS!"

"BEGONE FROM THIS LAND! NEVER RETURN!"

"KILL THE DEMON! KILL THE DEMON!"

Humans.

Humans were always the same.

Accusing their 'criminal' for any disaster within the last decade. The only one that was in the right for coming here was Nuk's father, but he was trailing after a dead end.

He shook his head in displeasure and followed the trail to the small dock that he had built. He could only hope that the rioters weren't on this side of his house. The lands were built in accordance to his curse. The walls were built far away from the castle so he could walk around the yard without killing those close to the walls. Because he was near the end of his land, there was no protection for the measly humans if they did close in this area.

Luckily, they were all focused on ramming his door down.

Zeref didn't mind the lost of his treasures throughout the house, his research books were a completely different topic. He turned around and spawned a few gatekeepers to keep the villagers in check; do not kill, only guard. He knew that he could count on these beasts, but humans were pesky, so he created a sixth one with the ability to charm his house, where everything inside was invisible to the villagers.

With that, the Demon Lord disappeared into the night, searching for his book of finest of research.

..

It was dawn when he finally arrived to an island. Just from looking at it from the sea, there wasn't much special about this floating piece of mass. There were voices sprinkled throughout the land, of animals chirping and snoring that echoed through the trees. This wasn't a deserted island, that's for sure.

From this, he knew that he was at the right place.

The dark-haired stood out of the boat and climbed onto the shore, docking his boat with a rope. Certainly he could have fought her the first time that he found her, but what was the purpose if he ended back in prison? Though, coming into enemy's land was also a risky move, maybe even leading to his death, but it was the only motivation he had at the moment.

There wasn't anything else waiting for him.

His ex-guild members were living their free life, not caring if he spent the last five years in jail after he gotten them free the first time.

And his beloved friend was nowhere to be seen. That was his one wish, and now it would never get fulfilled.

He shook his head, hating the thoughts of self-pity.

So, this was Tenruo Island.

Fairy Tail's sacred island.

There wasn't much he could say, other than it was silent unlike the other places he has been to.

…

Gray woke up the sleeping guild members. He and Master were the only ones there, the other S-class mages were gone without a word. There still were bottles from Gildarts and Cana sprinkled throughout the campsite, but otherwise, that was the only traces of them.

This must be the start of their second trial.

All of them circled around Master, awaiting his word. He didn't start speaking until Gray came closer and held up two sacks, the same two sacks that Laxus was messing with the night before.

"Second phase of the S-Class Trial starts today and ends tomorrow morning. You have an entire day for this fret."

This must be the reason of why he stressed on packing beforehand.

"Each of you will get a sack," he continued, having Gray hold up one of the sacks. "But to win this, you must have two sacks." Gray held up the second, this one had a golden tie inside of being tied up with a simple string. There was certainly something inside of them, but Makarvo didn't say a word about it. "Each sack is colored differently, depending on how it originated from. Such as the ones given to you have your name written on them, while the ones you can find in the forest, will have stripes. The ones that you win by defeating a S-class will have a gold box."

Quickly, Omi shouted, "What if you lose one sack, so you steal one and find another? Or if you steal one and fight a S-class?"

"A combination of the two. But remember, we are still Fairy Tail members, but this is still a trial. Hold no grudges against each other outside of this island. And I would wish you lot would avoid stealing, but there is a limit on scrolls, so I know it will happen. But I still wish the best of luck for you."

They all huddled together in a line, all waiting for Gray to hand them their sighed sack.

"Another rule: Do not open the sack under any circumstances. It's a immediate failure of the trial."

If Natsha was here, Gray was sure that she would moan at this added rule, being the curious person she was. And, by chance, it was only Romeo who groaned at the old gramps.

"You will be released by order of arrival." Makarvo turned his back, "Romeo."

The boy pocketed his sack in his jacket's pocket and headed into the forest, hopping from one tree to the next, trying to gain as much ground away from the campsite. For one, he was sure that the chances of defeating any of the S-Class mages was not an option for him. So, he had to avoid those areas and search around for those few scrolls hidden throughout the island.

Every five minutes, someone was sent out. They all chose different options on going for the task. Lucy and Lisanna knew well to avoid the other S-Class mages and aimed for the hidden scrolls. Freed and Juvia didn't seemed to care if they ran into one of the S-Class mages, actually, they were hoping for the chance of meeting their favorite mages. Gajeel and Omi didn't have much of a goal in mind, just whichever option opened up first for them.

Three mages found a space for themselves, fixing the area up for what battle would come.

Erza was the only one of the higher ranked mages to opt out this year's trial. Gildarts was the one who was going to set on the sidelines, but with the news of a challenger for Erza, it gave her more reason to stay near the campfire. Currently, she was returning from hiding the two sacks.

She went the long route, rounding the island by the shorelines, figuring that the others were already out hunting. They would try to fight her, figuring she was still in the trial as a boss. So, to her, it seemed simpler to avoid the mess. She knew the others were shattered between three points, Cana chose an area close to Mavis' grave and masked all of the scents, Laxus stayed near a waterfall, using the water as an extra disadvantage for whoever came. While Gildarts just found a dead trunk and set up base there.

Cana chose the spot because only the agile can get to it and stay.

Laxus chose the spot to show how unfair a battle can become.

Gildarts was a replacement, and because of how much over powered he was than the others, he was testing for other things than plain strength.

Erza had a slight idea of where she would have planned her match. There were ruins near Mavis' grave that served as a difficult battleground with how unsteady every platform was. If there was a volcano, then she would have chosen that area, seeing as how it was unpredictable.

Everything about this trial was planned from the start, even if they did have to make a few changes.

Erza watched the dawn sunrise when there was a crack behind her.

**I have been trying to update this chapter in daytime, but my life is a bit busy (on vacation)...so I'm just gonna upload. **

**firelass196: Erik. And you actually ship this pairing? Like...I just like any pairing, but I was mostly experimenting with this one (never wrote Cobra before...so yeah, fun). He and Erza did fight twice in the anime, which is why I'm adding the big deal between him and her, while Natsu's main target is Brain.**


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